Dragon Age Inquisition Review

[Garny]

Well lost 12 hours worth of progress thanks to the save files all being corrupt when i turned the game on this morning. Think im going to be sick

[Brad]

Gutted for you mate. Not going to bother with this. Witcher 3 is my RPG hope now.

[Garny]

now telling me " save file cannot be loaded, as installation is still in progress" maybe its because i downloaded them from cloud storage? (ps4 version)

[Tobal]

This game is basically Dragon Age 2 slapped on to open world map with more content. I can't believe you only 4 set A.I. tactics, its such a poor ****ing decision. I choose to play a tank, but your given a tank party member at the start and thanks to the ****ty A.I. they'll only attack what you attack, I can order them to attack enemies but if turn my attention to another mob it resets their agro to attack my target again... not that it matters, unless your taking 4-5 mobs which are 5 levels above you can mash to victory.

I really hope the "dungeons" I've been into on the feralden map aren't like that for the full game, basically 2 min jog into a dead end which are even worse designed than dungeons from DA2.

and the healing/shield stuff is beyond stupid.

[NeoDragoN]

Well the story really pushed on and it's ****ing awesome, big scene just happened, really got my juices flowing Loving every second of it!

The things that are bugging me are:

No tactics! Just being able to put my mages and bow rogues on "attack form distance" like the old games. They get far too close up and i have to keep switching to the strategic camera to move them away. Really silly that they dumbed down the tactics so much.

Who thought it would be a good idea to have jump and pick up stuff as the same button!

No finishers! I know it's just cosmetics but i really liked the finishers in 1, also wish it had the gore of 1.

Everything else is just great at this point!

[Brad]

Still sounds like garbage to me. A jump button? Are you kidding me?

[MrKirov]

It's a great game so far- just not seeing the faults you guys are.
I've set the tactics for my people and they're generally doing exactly what I want them too- but now I can tell archers to go up on high ledges to snipe. I set Cassandra to defend and she stays next to me attacking everything that gets near- it's everything I expected/wanted it to be.

Brad- yes there's a jump button- the game is much more open and there are many many large areas to explore, and jumping is used in the same way as Skyrim- it's really not a big deal.

Loving all the separate stuff going on- send spies or armies around the land, choosing which party member would be better for which mission, employing new scouts, helping them with quests go gain them into my army. Increasing my influence and using the power gained for party or army perks...lots of variety on the missions so far too.

Really enjoying it, me and the missus are sharing a game, and 21 hours done since Thursday night. The game plays like an offline MMO/FF12/Xenoblade if it helps.

[NeoDragoN]

Yeah the jump button totally makes sense in this as nowhere is flat at all.

Everywhere is massive!

->Open Spoiler<-

Once you get Skyhold it's just ridiculous how big that place is, and it's great that every time you return, it's a little more cleaner or there's work going on and it's different every time. Also love the fact they bought Hawke back, really made me smile!

[PaTaito]

Great game, also the first game i have turned on and sank 6 hours into off the bat for longer than i can remember...

Nothing particularly new, but very polished(system wise) and with a rather compelling story.

The animations on the other hand are jarringly bad, and considering the general level of eye candy on display it makes it very stand out...ah well so far 9/10 for me.

[Bassman]

I must admit to being more into the game now, though I admittedly find Far Cry 4 more of a draw.

Just received my Strategy Guide for the game which Amazon specified delivery in 3-6 weeks when I ordered it the other day. It included access to the eGuide and also some DLC. Must check and see what I got (if I can find the relevant chest).

[Tobal]

the tactics are turning on and off the use of Abilities and 4 "Behaviours"
1)Use Abilities until this amount of Stamina
2)target this characters target
3)HP potion storage (don't use potion below this amount in storage)
4)when to use a HP potion

in straight forward play following the story there are zero tactics in this game bar hold R2, for anything that is challenge (i.e. going into an a fight under levelled by 5-6+ lvls) requires micro managing positions(due to **** A.I.) as they fight where they stand for mages and rangers, I found the undead marsh area very annoying for positioning, this means by default they won't look for flanking(and won't even flank or back attack as a melee, just shortest route to enemy) or force them to debuff, they won't run away when taking damage, won't use anything outside a HP potion like stamina/MP, buffs, and na's, I have to do everything for them. A typical situation in a large, tough fight will be the mage or ranger will pull hate off the tank, they will sit there and eat damage while chugging potions, the tank will run over to the enemy, AoE taunt bringing all the mobs in range towards the tank, the ranger/mage will continue to stand in the circle of mobs getting hit from AoE spells and melee. Good luck to anyone turning on friendly fire.


Aside from that the world/characters and the story are good so far, my only complaint is the Female Qunari VA's are really poor compared to high standard set by every other voice actor.

[Panta Rhei]

I also think this is an excellent game and a return to form.

Its too bad there aren't many AI settings but I can manage fine. ie, setting a Tank to defend and prioritize stun attacks while I close rifts and constantly hold far away positions for ranged fighters. To beat harder fights you do need constant micromanagement but thats what makes it more useful than basic fighting.

[SUMIRE]

Well I am finding this amazing. The landscape is truly astounding, it really does feel like a truly open world with so much detail. Exploring it is a joy. Graphically it is phenomenal on ultra settings, The coastline and sea on one part of the map...amazing! probably the best PC game I have seen so far. I think this is going to last me a long time

[Garny]

Well I am finding this amazing. The landscape is truly astounding, it really does feel like a truly open world with so much detail. Exploring it is a joy. Graphically it is phenomenal on ultra settings, The coastline and sea on one part of the map...amazing! probably the best PC game I have seen so far. I think this is going to last me a long time

Yep, even on PS4 it looks insane in places

[Tobal]

a little help with a bug I might have encountered on a quest. I assume only available if you spared Loghain in Origins part of the grey warden calling quest.

->Open Spoiler<-

I had a quest to go with Hawke to find Loghain. I met him a cave, walked out with Loghain'n'Hawke in toe and needed to swap out members to a rng/rng/mage outfit, so I quick warped to the camp, then they and the quest vanished... I'm hoping there was nothing more till I flag another grey warden calling quest again in the future but It could well be Loghain and Hawkie are standing in some random part of the map waiting for me and theres no quest journal active for it...

Hopefully I just missed something obvious, but I have encountered enough gameplay bugs from not being able to switch members (many times), to losing all movement control, occasional talky bits with your party in skyhold not loading in and the camera loading view setting that are clearly not meant for qunari height... I did make me laugh going though 3 odd cutscenes so far with the camera firming positioned on my qunari's tits.